Most tumors express mutated or inappropriately expressed, nonmutated tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) that often contain cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes. Yet, the immune system often remains incapable of overtaking the growth potential of the malignant cells. Many approaches have been attempted to obtain protective and therapeutic anti-tumor immunity. However, for some of these approaches, limited success was observed (Dagher et al., Med Pediatr Oncol 38: 158-164 (2002); and Rodeberg et al., Cancer Immuno Immunother 54: 526-534 (2005)).
The present invention seeks to overcome the aforementioned problems by providing immunogenic peptides, dendritic cells presenting the immunogenic peptides, and methods of treating and preventing cancer. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.